Saturday’s protests in several Colorado cities and towns were part of some 300 coordinated protests across the country to object to the ban on gay marriage in California. Proposition 8, backed heavily by the Mormon church and Colorado Springs-based Focus on the Family, passed 52 percent to 48 percent on Nov. 4.

Observers say a legal challenge is likely. And among many protesters in Colorado, the sting from our own anti-gay Amendment 2 of 16 years ago is still fresh.

“It was eerily reminiscent of Amendment 2,” said Colorado Springs activist Mark Lewis. “There were a lot of young people at the rally, and plenty of others who remember the battle over 2 and the overwhelming sentiment was, ‘Why am I still having to fight this?'”

Lewis says he, along with many others, didn’t think Proposition 8 had a chance of passing. And it’s further proof that democracy is participatory.

“It’s a great civics lesson for everyone about how, despite the tyranny of the majority, you can’t make homosexuals second class citizens,” he says.